The Inbox Diaries is a new series designed to help busy entrepreneurs keep up with all the latest news in small business, marketing, and social media. I’m scouring my inbox every day for interesting tidbits – so you don’t have to.

This Week’s Stories:

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense: McDonald’s vs. Taco Bell
When Taco Bell launched its breakfast menu on March 27th, it fired the first shot in the Fast Food Breakfast War against the industry leader, McDonald’s. After watching the launch commercial in which Taco Bell showed dozens of real men named Ronald McDonald chowing down on Waffle Tacos, the world waited with baited breath to see how McDonald’s would respond. For a brand whose mascot is a clown, I found the two-pronged response to be nicely understated. First, McDonald’s announced that for the next 2 weeks they will be giving away their much-praised McCafe coffee free during breakfast hours. This costs the company almost nothing, but provides an incentive for diners to choose their brand while all the hype around Taco Bell fades to the background. They also shared a classy but pointed tweet that patronizes Taco Bell to just the right extent: